No COVID Testing At Listed City Site In Forest Hills, Church Says

FOREST HILLS, QUEENS — Despite a report from the city, Forest Hills' first free, city-run COVID testing site is apparently not open this week.

New York City's Test and Trace Corps says it will offer PCR testing at Our Lady Queen of Martyrs Church, located at 110-06 Queens Boulevard, from 9:00 a.m. to 2 p.m. during the week of Jan. 3rd.

The church, however, told Patch that the listing is erroneous; while COVID testing was offered last week, it is not hosting a testing booth this week, a church spokesperson said. New York City Health and Hospitals did not immediately respond to Patch's request for comment.

News of the mishap comes after neighbors decried a lack of free, local testing options in Forest Hills last week despite all-time high COVID rates in the area; some reportedly spent hundreds of dollars on private testing as the omicron variant exponentially bolstered citywide COVID cases.

City Council Member Lynn Schulman said that more local testing sites are "important" and that she is working with Borough President Donovan Richard's office and other officials to get more testing to the area "soon."

Neighboring Queens officials have joined the push for more local testing sites in Central Queens, too, especially in neighborhoods that have the borough's highest COVID rates.

As of last week, the 16. 39 percent COVID positivity rate in Forest Hills remains lower than the borough wide or citywide rates — which both stood around 20 percent — but the return to school (and work for some) following the holiday break is sparking concerns about more cases.

As of Monday at least a handful of classrooms in Forest Hills are learning remotely, with dozens other partially closed due to COVID exposures, DOE data shows.

While teachers and parents expressed worries to NBC NY about the lack of school-wide testing, Mayor Eric Adams told New Yorkers to "fear not."

"Put your children in school. If it reaches that point that children should not be in school, we will make the proper call," Adams said.

Correction: An original version of this story reported that testing was taking place at the church. Patch updated the article Monday evening after the church reached out and reported the NYC Health + Hospital listing was inaccurate.

To find a place to get tested for COVID-19, use the city's official map or visit a walk-in Health + Hospitals site. To get vaccinated or boosted, visit vaccinefinder.nyc.gov.